Month: March 2024

(WARNING: Spoilers for BMF episode will be found below.)

Unlike seasons one and two of BMF, the show’s third season doesn’t feature the Flenory brothers in their hometown of Detroit. At the conclusion of season two, Meech and Terry spit as the former decided to set out to Atlanta to launch a separate hub for their BMF collective. Season three tracks Meech and Terry’s progress as the respective leaders of the Atlanta and Detroit BMF headquarters. However, in episode four of season three, Meech comes home as a new business opportunity requires him to be in Detroit and get help from Terry.

When Will BMF Season 3, Episode 4 Come Out?

The fourth episode of BMF season three, titled “The Return Of The Prodigal Son,” will arrive on March 22. The episode will be available on Friday, 3/22 on the STARZ app starting at midnight EST/PST. The episode will later air on the STARZ TV channel at 8 pm ET/PT. A synopsis for “The Return Of The Prodigal Son” can be found below:

Meech returns to Detroit upon Colombian connect Loco’s request to pick up weight for BMF; the amount of weight is insurmountable for him to handle alone, thus he solicits help from Terry and the Detroit team.

New episodes of ‘BMF’ are available on the STARZ app on Fridays at 12 am ET/PT and on the STARZ TV channel at 8 pm ET/PT.

Contrary to popular belief, rappers – and hip-hop fans at large – have always been nerds. Look no further for proof than Wu-Tang Clan, ostensible stalwarts of hardcore, no-frills, gun-grime-and-crime street rap, who also chose a number of aliases from the world of Marvel Comics. Now, “nerds” isn’t here to demean anybody; after all, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo deliberately reclaimed the term for hip-hop heads with the name of both their experimental rock project, N.E.R.D., and their label, Star Trak (a direct reference to the OG geek obsession, Star Trek).

But just in case none of that was enough to convince you that hip-hop culture and geekdom are as inextricably tied together these days as politics and corruption, just look at the outpouring of admiration, grief, and respect from rappers and their fans for the late Japanese comics creator, Akira Toriyama, upon the news of his death last week — and for his unintended but undeniable contributions to the culture through his best-known work, Dragon Ball. Incidentally, I wrote just last month about the sprawling impact of anime on hip-hop, and much of that — I’m talking a good 80 percent or better — is very likely due to the popularity of Dragon Ball. Toriyama may well have created the most hip-hop anime of all time.

Oakland rapper Guapdad 4000 summed it up best in his extensive tribute to Toriyama on Twitter when he wrote, “NGL, Toriyama passing feel like I lost a real family member. This shit worse than when Micheal Jackson died.” Some version of this sentiment was shared across the rap landscape, from the expected, like Thundercat, who once paid tribute to the series with his tongue-in-cheek single “Dragonball Durag,” to the more subtle, like Big Sean recording a freestyle verse with the film Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ on television in the background.

That foundational love for the franchise permeated each of the conversations I had with rappers ranging from Grammy favorite Cordae to Top Dawg Entertainment mainstay Isaiah Rashad to my fellow Comptonite Buddy. Although Dragon Ball isn’t ostensibly about hip-hop, nor most of the subjects with which rap music historically concerns itself, all of them considered the franchise a profound inspiration to their lives and art. Even beyond that, they each saw a reflection of themselves in characters like Goku and Vegeta, who they even likened to the fractious history of Blackness in America.

Just in case you have by some chance been stranded on a desert island with only a volleyball for company for the past thirty years, Dragon Ball is one of the most successful Japanese entertainment franchises of all time. It encompasses comics (manga), animated television shows and movies (anime), video games, which Cordae calls his introduction to the franchise, and mountains of merch from t-shirts (oft-derided in the early days) to action figures, accessories, and even cafes in its native Japan where fans could dine on themed cuisine inspired by the aesthetics dreamed up by Akira Toriyama over the franchise’s 31-year history.

Toriyama had previously worked on a book called Dr. Slump before creating Dragon Ball in 1984 out of a desire to write a kung-fu shonen (or boys’) manga. Shonen manga revolve around action and adventure tales about heroes who often hold goals of self-improvement and being “the best” at something or finding some MacGuffin. Dragon Ball, loosely based on the Chinese classical novel Journey To The West, has the best of both in the form of protagonist Son Goku, who searches for the seven titular balls that will grant the holder one wish from a mighty dragon.

The manga became so popular that it spawned five anime series, the second of which, Dragon Ball Z, was aired in the US twice. The first time, in syndication, it garnered a small but loyal fanbase despite numerous edits for content and a season order that cut off in the midpoint of the second season (a source of unending frustration for this writer). However, in 1998, the show began running on Cartoon Network’s afternoon Toonami programming block, increasing the show’s popularity stateside tremendously. It was many American children’s first experience with the concept of “anime” as Japanese cartoons.

After a redubbed airing continued the story beyond that original loop of 53 episodes, anime became an obsession at an unheard-of scale. This is the one most of the rappers I interviewed were most familiar with, but Cordae admits to being a fan even of the widely derided sequel series Dragon Ball GT. “I know a lot of people shit on GT, but that sh*t was tight to me,” he maintains. “I remember I watched Bio-Broly. That was one of the first movies I got from Blockbuster!” Still, DBZ is such an important part of his life, he’s even wearing a T-shirt in his breakout video for “My Name Is.”

Meanwhile, Toriyama’s distinctive character designs – those square eyes, that spiky hair – graced the graphics of a handful of popular video game franchises throughout the rest of the ‘90s and early 2000s. Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger are popular in their own rights, with many gamers holding them among the best of their genre and generation. Still, Dragon Ball and its sequels and spinoffs remain Toriyama’s best-known and most beloved works – especially when it comes to hip-hop.

Buddy recalled catching the show at home (off of Harlan and Alondra, the two streets after which he named his 2018 debut album) on Toonami, “fresh from playing basketball outside, hoopin’, skatin’, climbing trees.” Describing his recipe for the ultimate syrup sandwich, he says he watched Dragon Ball Z, Inuyasha, and Cowboy Bebop in the afternoons. “Goku was my favorite, ‘cause that n**** be kickin’ ass and makin’ friends,” he enthuses. “Everybody he beat up, he’s homies with!”

Today, multiple rappers litter their rhymes with phrases from the show such as “going Super Saiyan,” a reference to a power some of the franchise’s characters can tap into to reach an empowered state complete with a flaming aura and golden hair. Florida rapper Denzel Curry name-checks Senzu beans — a restorative food eaten by the Dragon Ball heroes — and Broly, a villain from the 11th film, Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan on 2015’s “Ultimate,” his breakout hit. Chance The Rapper throws out a reference to both the Super Saiyan state and one of the franchise’s many sidekick characters, Krillin, in his 2016 song “Blessings.”

Big Sean once fanned out when he and his mother met Sean Schemmel, the American voice actor for Goku and several other characters on Dragon Ball Z. Thundercat, best known for his work with Kendrick Lamar, recruited Guapdad 4000 and rapper Smino to rap on the “Dragonball Durag” remix in 2020. The video for the song sees ‘Cat trying to woo the Haim sisters adorning with the eponymous hair accessory and the resulting repulsion of (most) of his targets — a reference to the confusion faced by the franchise’s earliest American adopters.

There’s still some of that old embarrassment lingering through some of my conversations with the rappers, even though we’re all here for the same thing. Isaiah Rashad apologizes for “nerding out,” but needs very little encouragement to continue doing so. Mostly, though, these are some of the most enthusiastic interviews I’ve had in seven years at Uproxx. Ask rappers questions about the music, you might get one-word answers; ask them about Akira Toriyama and the impact that Dragon Ball has had on them, it’s like they ate a Senzu bean.

Even as Rashad frets that his musing gone too far afield, he credits his exposure to the wider world through Dragon Ball and other anime. They gave him an outgoing curiosity for other cultures – even ones that weren’t strictly connected to the franchise. “When you grow up in a Black household,” he says, “What your parents like, you like. So when you see something else that you really respect as much as you respect people that look like you… that got me into all kinds of different music like funk, live renditions of the music… I got hella influences. I love Thai funk. Dragon Ball is how I got into a lot of that.”

The aspects of the show that draw such energetic admiration from these entertainers vary as widely as their approaches to rap. Buddy loves the bond between the green alien Piccolo and Goku’s son Gohan, who takes up the battle to save the earth from extraterrestrial threats after his father’s death (don’t worry, he gets better). “I loved watching Piccolo and Gohan bond,” he gushes. “Uncle Piccolo, raising Gohan in the wilderness, training him, making sure he was book smart.”

Meanwhile, Cordae found himself fascinated by the world-building in an arc involving intergalactic supervillain Frieza. “It was like a caste system of just how you got your lower level, just army guys with the guns,” he explains. “Then you got your Dodoria, Zarbon, then you got your Ginyu Force. I just love the clear pecking order of how strong everybody was.” He says that Dragon Ball Z “was the one anime that was socially acceptable in the hood. When people ask me, am I an anime head? I’m like, ‘Nah, I just like the n**** anime, bro, just like Naruto and Dragon Ball Z.’”

A common throughline is how much the world of Dragon Ball reflects social issues, despite being technically apolitical. Cordae compares the Saiyans to Black Americans, calling Frieza a racist for his treatment of the group, which he employs as enforcers to carry out his dirty work. Buddy makes the same comparison to the planet Namek, which Piccolo calls home. Rashad notes that the prolific variety of character types and species made them relatable because “you didn’t know what the f*ck they was, you just know they was cool-looking.”

But sometimes, the love for Dragon Ball and Akira Toriyama was as simple as giving young Black kids something to do when it felt like America didn’t provide very many other options – let alone ones enforcing positive messages about getting stronger, turning enemies into friends, and never giving up no matter the odds. As Guapdad put it in his loving tribute to Toriyama, “Dragon Ball Z literally saved me from just going back outside and ending up a street n****. I know this sounds like a stretch but I’m not kidding bruh. Toonami played it right when the streetlights came on.”

I asked everybody I interviewed for this piece what they’d want to tell Toriyama given the chance. Rather than words, they all shared another similar sentiment. “I would give him a big ass hug,” says Cordae. “I’d try to draw him, embrace my inner eight-year-old,” Rashad echoes. “I wouldn’t say anything,” Buddy admits. “I’d give him a fist bump. Then a side hug. And then it’d be an obsessed grab with a head on the shoulder.” They all say they’d tell him “thank you.”

Thank you for creating a world we could escape to. Thank you for giving us characters we could relate to. Thank you for inspiring our creativity, for expanding our horizons, and for telling us there is no limit to the power inside of us if we only keep pushing. Thank you for one hell of an adventure.

With the House of the Dragon Season 2 dropping “dueling trailers” on fans, the Game of Thrones prequel series is tasking fans with choosing which side of a fiery conflict to pledge their allegiance.

Based on the George R.R. Martin book, Fire and Ice, the prequel series has moved into the Targaryens’ growing war, largely led by Aemond and Daemon, that will rage across Westeros. With Aemond on Team Green and Daemon heading up Team Black, here’s a breakdown on which characters are on which side as the dragon-fueled skirmish fires up.

Who’s on Team Green in ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2?

• King Aegon II Targaryen
• Queen Helaena Targaryen
• Prince Aemond Targaryen
• Prince Daeron Targaryen
• Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen
• Princess Jaehaera Targaryen
• Prince Maelor Targaryen
• Alicent Hightower
• Otto Hightower
• Ser Cristan Cole
• Lord Larys Strong
• Ser Arryk Cargyll
• Ser Tyland Lannister
• Lord Jasper Wylde
• Grand Maester Orwyle

Who’s on Team Black in ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2?

• Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen
• Prince Daemon Targaryen
• Princess Rhaenys Targaryen
• Prince Aegon Targaryen
• Prince Viserys Targaryen
• Lady Baela Targaryen
• Lady Rhaena Targaryen
• Lord Corlys Velaryon
• Prince Jacaerys Velaryon
• Prince Lucerys Velaryon
• Prince Joffrey Velaryon
• Ser Erryk Cargyll
• Maester Gerardys

Here’s the official synopsis:

Westeros is on the brink of a bloody civil war with the Green and Black Councils fighting for King Aegon and Queen Rhaenyra, respectively. As each side believes theirs to be the rightful seat on the Iron Throne, the Green and Black trailers reflect those two perspectives in separate yet complementary halves of the same story. For global audiences, “All Must Choose” their side of House Targaryen as the realm fractures in season two.

House of the Dragon Season 2 arrives in June on HBO.

Sydney Sweeney is the It Girl of the moment. Could she also be a Bond Girl? The Anyone But You and Euphoria actress is the odds-on favorite to get a ridiculous name like Kissy Suzuki, Pussy Galore, or Holly Goodhead in the next James Bond movie. Instant Casinos has Sydney Sweeney at 5/2, followed by Jenna Ortega (11/2), Lilly Collins (13/2), Millie Bobby Brown (13/2), and Zoey Deutch (8/1), who makes more sense than Eleven from Stranger Things.

I know you’re all wondering: but who will play Money Penny??? Claire Foy currently has the best odds (4/1), then Emilia Clarke (6/1), Lily James (13/2), and Jessica Henwick (9/1). No offense to all those wonderful actresses, but the role of Money Penny should go to one of Sweeney’s grandmas. Maybe all of them. Shake (and/or stir) things up a bit.

Bond 26 is still in the early stages of development. There isn’t even an officially announced replacement for Daniel Craig, who wore his last impeccably-tailored suit in 2021’s No Time to Die. It might be Aaron Taylor-Johnston, as was reported earlier this week, but only if he “wish[es] to accept it. The formal offer is on the table and they are waiting to hear back.”

It’s a tempting role for any actor, as long as you don’t stick around long enough where you’d “rather slit my wrists” than play Bond one more time.

After Tyla‘s success last year with her single “Water,” fans have been waiting to hear what else she has in store — specifically with a full-length album. Thankfully, there isn’t too much longer to wait, as she will be dropping her debut studio record in a few hours.

If you’re planning to listen to it on Apple Music, here’s what to know about when it will be released on the streaming platform.

When Will Tyla’s New Album Be On Apple Music?

Tyla’s self-titled album will be available to stream on Apple Music starting at 12 a.m. ET. For those on the West Coast, you can listen starting at 9 p.m. PT. Earlier this week, she revealed that the 14-track project will include collaborations with Kelvin Momo, Tems, Gunna, Becky G, Travis Scott, and Skillibeng.

“We have the same goals in terms of spreading our sound and our culture to the world and dominating the industry,” Tyla told Rolling Stone about working with Tems. “Also being two girls from Africa breaking down walls, we’re very much supportive. I’m happy that we were able to create something so pretty with a good message.”

Tyla’s Tyla Tracklist

1. “Intro” Feat. Kelvin Momo
2. “Safer”
3. “Water”
4. “Truth or Dare”
5. “No. 1” Feat. Tems
6. “Breathe Me”
7. “Butterflies”
8. “On & On”
9. “Jump” Feat. Gunna and Skillibeng
10. “Art”
11. “On My Body” Feat. Becky G
12. “Priorities”
13. “To Last”
14. “Water (Remix)” Feat. Travis Scott

Tyla is out 3/22 via FAX/Epic Records. Find more information here.

Cillian Murphy won an Oscar for his role in Oppenheimer just weeks ago, but, in typical Cillian fashion, he has since retreated from the spotlight and will likely not come out of hiding until he has another project to promote. We don’t know where he goes, but he’s probably asleep beneath an enchanted tree in some lush Irish forest, as he should be. But he won’t be elusive for long!

In the past, Murphy has expressed interest in returning to his role of Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders, mostly due to Margot Robbie’s recent begging. Earlier this year he said, “I’ve always thought that if there’s more story to tell,” and now that story is coming to life.

Series creator Stephen Knight confirmed that Muprhy would be returning as Shelby for the upcoming Peaky Blinder movie. “He definitely is returning for it,” he told Birmingham World, adding, “We’re shooting it in September just down the road in Digbeth.” While Digbeth sounds like a rejected Pokemon name, it’s actually a subsection of Birmingham.

Murphy portrayed Shelby for all six seasons of the drama, which ran until 2022. In January, Knight confirmed that he was wrapping up the story. “I’m just working on the final bits of it at the moment,” Knight revealed. “The plan is to start shooting that in the middle of [2024].”

Murphy has not yet confirmed the news for himself, but he’s probably busy at home alone re-watching Red Eye to see what all of the hype is about.

(Via Birmingham World)

With the Los Angeles Clippers cruising to a win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night, James Harden decided to have some fun. After kicking the ball out to Kawhi Leonard in the corner, Harden turned towards Leonard and then attempted to block his shot. It was very weird — Leonard missed, the Clippers got an offensive rebound, and Harden eventually got an assist after setting up an Amir Coffey three.

Los Angeles was up by 21 at the time, so it’s not like this happened in a high-stakes moment or anything. Still, everyone had one question: Why the heck did Harden do this? Fortunately, he was asked about this after the game and basically said it all comes down to good vibes.

“Gotta bring some excitement to this team,” Harden said. “I think this last few weeks has been a fog for us, think every team goes through something. Just me trying to create a great energy, a great vibe for this team. Maybe it would’ve been better if he made the shot, but, gives us something to laugh about, you know what I mean? Some excitement.”

When asked if he managed to accomplished what he set out to do, Harden smiled and said, “Yeah, I did.”

Last September, Big Ears Festival revealed its 2024 lineup, which included Herbie Hancock, Jon Batiste, Rhiannon Giddens, Adrianne Lenker, and Laurie Anderson. The daily lineups rolled out in early December. Last month, Big Ears announced that André 3000 and his ensemble would perform André 3000: New Blue Sun Live as a residency across the festival’s four days — with “five intimate concerts in three different venues.”

The 2024 Big Ears Festival will be held from Thursday, March 21, to Sunday, March 24, in Knoxville, Tennessee. The festival features a whopping 13 venues, including Knoxville Civic Auditorium, Tennessee Theatre, Bijou Theatre, Mill & Mine, and The Standard.

Check out the must-know set times below, and see the full four-day schedule here.

Here Are Big Ears Festival Set Times For 2024

Thursday, March 21: The slate will really begin at 6 p.m. local time with Tord Gustavsen Trio at Bijou Theater and include various performances across all stages, including Adrianne Lenker (9:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.) at Knoxville Civic Auditorium. It will conclude with Robert Aiki and Aubrey Lowe from 11:45 p.m. to 12:45 a.m. at The Standard. André 3000’s first New Blue Sun Live performance will take place from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at St. John’s Cathedral.

Friday, March 22: Sisters With Transistors will kick the day off at 9 a.m. at Regal Riviera Cinema 2. Steve Keene Live Art Performance will happen throughout the day, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., at Red Gallery. Joanna Sternberg will perform from 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. at Old City PAC. John Paul Jones can be found from 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. at Tennessee Theatre. Laurie Anderson & Sexmob: Let X=X is set for 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Knoxville Civic Auditorium, and Rhiannon Giddens will play from 10 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at Tennessee Theatre. André 3000’s second New Blue Sun Live performance will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Bijou Theatre.

Saturday, March 23:Steve Keene Live Art Performance will again stretch from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Red Gallery. Herbie Hancock is slated from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Knoxville Civic Auditorium. André 3000’s third New Blue Sun Live performance will take place from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at The Point.

Sunday, March 24: Yes, Steve Keene Live Art Performance will again be available to see from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Red Gallery. American Symphony will perform from 10 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. at Regal Riviera Cinema 2. Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens will set up from 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. at Mill & Mine. Jon Batiste’s set will last from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Knoxville Civic Auditorium. André 3000 will stage two separateNew Blue Sun Live concerts at The Point on the final day: 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Tyla is finally dropping her new self-titled debut album in just a few hours, so fans don’t have to wait too much longer. She recently unveiled the tracklist for it, which will include collaborations with Kelvin Momo, Tems, Gunna, Skillibeng, Becky G, and Travis Scott.

The Best New Artist did have to cancel her tour tied to the record, revealing that her injury grew worse, but is making it up with the music.

Find out when you can hear Tyla’s debut record on Spotify below.

When Will Tyla’s New Album Be On Spotify?

Tyla’s self-titled album will be available to stream on Spotify starting at 12 a.m. ET/9 p.m. PT. It will include the Travis Scott remix of her hit single, “Water,” along with other jams that listeners will love.

“A lot of artists have shown love for African music and African culture, which is amazing, but I’d love to see a lot more African artists showcasing that and being at the forefront of it,” Tyla told Rolling Stone in an interview about her upcoming debut.

She also spoke about her collaboration with Tems, stating, “We have the same goals in terms of spreading our sound and our culture to the world and dominating the industry. Also being two girls from Africa breaking down walls, we’re very much supportive. I’m happy that we were able to create something so pretty with a good message.”

Tyla is out 3/22 via FAX/Epic Records. Find more information here.

When I caught up with Katie Crutchfield via Zoom earlier this week, she seemed excited to talk about the albums she has made thus far as Waxahatchee. Perhaps she was already feeling triumphant over the early reviews of Tigers Blood, the sixth Waxahatchee LP due out Friday. A sonic and thematic sequel to her acclaimed 2020 release Saint Cloud, the new record continues Crutchfield’s transition from the noisy and confessional indie rock of early Waxahatchee to the wised-up country rock of her mature “thirtysomething” period.

This pivot is obvious and, it turns out, self-conscious. Tigers Blood is another product of Crutchfield’s union with Saint Cloud producer Brad Cook, who helped the singer-songwriter assemble a supporting cast that includes MJ Lenderman (prominently featured on the instant-classic single “Right Back To It”), Spencer Tweedy, and Phil Cook.

“Honestly, the way I look at my whole catalog is pre-Brad and post-Brad,” she says. “The Brad era sits together and works together. And then the pre-Brad era, it was really one album at a time, and they weren’t really in any communication with each other.”

That might be true, but revisiting Waxahatchee’s discography uncovers one of the more fascinating evolutions in modern indie rock, tracing Crutchfield as she grew from a hard-touring musician in her early 20s to the more settled and thoughtful songwriter she is now. Those early records are still dazzling in their own way, particularly given Crutchfield’s fearless and often self-lacerating lyrics and the teetering-on-the-brink-of-collapse music. But the arc of Waxahatchee’s output has bended toward craft and steadiness, a sign that she is a music lifer who intends to go the distance artistically, professionally, and in every other sense.

American Weekend (2012)

I think I made that record right at the beginning of 2011, so I would’ve been 21. And I wrote and recorded it in a week. It was this really prolific moment. I had been in my band, P.S. Eliot, and that was just naturally feeling like it was starting to wane or fall apart. I made that record in this transitional moment, and then I sat on it for two years. It was this weird lightning-in-a-bottle thing where I feel like I had this crazy creative growth spurt. And then I held onto it for a little while and it was really just mine, and I didn’t have any plan of releasing it or doing anything with it. But then, obviously, it set a lot of things into motion once I did.

I know that album has fans and a lot of those fans have followed me. But I’m so far away from where I was when I made that record, so it feels a little tricky for me to try and embody it at this point. It’s funny, because I look at artists that have made really amazing records at that age — 20, 21, super, super young. One of my best friends, Lindsay Jordan of Snail Mail, made the album Lush when she was 19. And I’m like, she can play those songs for the rest of her life and they’ll be amazing no matter what. But when you’re looking in a mirror, it’s different.

I’m sure there are a lot of people who love American Weekend who are like, “Yeah, you can still play ‘Bathtub.’” And I’m sure that I could. But it’s so uncomfortable to put your 21-year-old skin back on. When I go back and revisit that record, there’s a tender-hearted thing that comes up for me. I really have compassion for that person. And I’m also like, “Ugh, this is so uncomfortable.”

Cerulean Salt (2013)

With American Weekend, nothing about that record was zoomed out. It was extremely zoomed in. Cerulean Salt to me is the first record I made where some through-lines for what would continue on in my work start to present themselves. I’m talking a lot about addiction, I’m talking a lot about co-dependency, and certain other things that I’ll keep revisiting on every record.

I had moved to New York when I made Cerulean Salt, but I had had this mini-breakdown there and went back to Alabama. I wrote half of Cerulean Salt right when I first got there. So there’s a lot of home in that record. American Weekend I made in my bedroom and it’s this very intimate-sounding thing. And I made a version of Cerulean Salt that’s exactly like that, but ultimately I decided to start collaborating with other people and have a band around me. By the time I made the record, I had moved to Philly, and we made it in my basement.

When I did the first Waxahatchee record, I was doing P.S. Eliot and we were super, super DIY. I booked every show we ever played. It was very underground. Deeply underground. We could go play in any city in America and pack it out, even if it was small. There was a following at that point with that band. With that first Waxahatchee record, it had grown a little bit. And then by the time Cerulean Salt came out, I was able to quit my day job and really focus on music 100 percent for the first time. But it all happened in this really organic way, so I didn’t feel overwhelmed. And that’s really just continued. With every new level-up that I’ve approached, I’ve been pretty ready for it, just because it all happened at this really healthy pace.

Ivy Tripp (2015)

That was a tricky one. Ivy Tripp and Out In The Storm were tricky in their own ways. And a lot of it has to do with who I had in the room at the time. I was in this messy relationship, and we were working on that record together, so it was tough. I felt I had tapped in with the first two records to this really specific voice that I was trying to cultivate. It was trying to tap into some emotional truth. And I really struggled to get there on Ivy Tripp. It’s a more abstract, poetic record.

I didn’t go into a studio to make a record until my fourth album. We were still doing it super DIY-style at my house, setting everything up. With Ivy Tripp, we worked on that record for a few months, just with everything set up in the house. I was really into Flying Nun bands at the time — Tall Dwarfs, The Clean, stuff like that. A big thing that we were trying to do that’s very GBV is make every song short and make them all sound different, to really run the gambit of aesthetics. “This one’s going to be a poppy piano song” and “This one’s going to be this really weird, dark indie rock song,” and “This one’s going to be all on Moog.” We were trying to make shit weird.

My intuition is always to write really simple, poppy melodies. That’s what’s always comes naturally to me. And I think there was some discomfort with that. We were like, “We got to make this interesting in some way, because it’s too simple.” So we would throw all kinds of stuff on it just to make it weird. We were full force on that tip with Ivy Tripp. I’m very happy that I’ve moved on from that. Now I embrace what the song is and we just do what we can to make it better.

Out In The Storm (2017)

That’s an outlier, because the first three records were made in the super DIY way and more or less have the same cast of characters that worked on them. Even my first record, by the time that came out, these collaborators I was working with were already in the picture. So Out In The Storm, my live band at the time played on it, and my sister played on it. And I worked with Katie Harkin — who’s a dear, dear friend of mine, a legend in her own right. She played guitar and a lot of synths.

I worked with John Agnello. It was the first time I ever made a record in a studio. I made it at Miner Street in Philly, in Fishtown. John was such a gentle landing for me, as far as working with a producer for the first time. He’s not super hands-on. He really just let me take the reins. He was just a sweetheart, and we had fun.

When I turned that record in to Merge, Mac McCaughan was like, “Katie, I think this is just the record that you have to make right now.” It struck me when he said it. And now, looking back, he was right. It’s not a sound that I was ever going to go back to. It’s just this big, loud, angry rock record. But it’s just where I was at. I had made some transitions in my life. I had ended some relationships. It sounds corny, but I was on my way to becoming the person I’m now. And I just needed to make a scorched earth record about that. That’s really what it is.

I think touring that record was really hard for me for a lot of reasons. But making the record was cathartic. It’s a little hard for me to revisit those songs. It was this thing I had to get out. And then once I got it out, I was like, I don’t need to go back to that.

Saint Cloud (2020)

I had this meeting with an astrologer who was giving me my forecast for the year, and he said there’s this one week in July 2019, where if you do something creative and big in that week, it’s going to change your life. And I looked at the week, and I swear to God, it was the week that we made Saint Cloud. I had it on my calendar to make my next record then at Sonic Ranch. I always think about that. It’s so weird and cosmic.

Honestly, with both of my last two records, those are my two favorite records I’ve ever made. I just feel like I finally figured it out, what feels correct for my songwriting. I give so much credit to Brad Cook. I feel like my friendship with him, my collaborative relationship with him, completely changed my life in so many ways. Saint Cloud was me transitioning into my 30s. I quit drinking, got sober, left Philly, took almost two years off of touring, and started dating Kevin [Morby]. I got in this new phase.

Writing the record was really hard. It was the closest for me to writer’s block. I was still writing, but it was a labor. It’s partially because I had all this anxiety from being newly sober, and I was really self-editing in a major way. Kevin was like, “I have this new friend who I think you should know, and I really think you should work with. I think you would really like him.” And that was Brad. We met and talked and then worked together on the Great Thunder EP, and I knew he was going to do the record.

The other big part of teeing that all up was I did a tour with the band Bonnie Doon, who I love, and they were playing as my backing band. I loved how it sounded so much that I threw them a couple new songs, one of them being “Can’t Do Much.” Once I heard them play that I was just like, “Oh, this is the sound. This is exactly what I want my next record to sound like.”

Tigers Blood (2024)

My first four records are riddled with clues that I was someone who was really struggling with substance issues. When I made Saint Cloud, I was a year sober, and that’s palpable in that record, even if it’s not on-the-nose talking about sobriety. With Tigers Blood, I’ve settled into that part of my life more now, and that’s probably the big through-line between the two records, how being a sober adult is affecting me five years in as opposed to one year in.

I didn’t have any aesthetic vision when I was writing the songs. With Saint Cloud, pretty early on, I knew what it was. Out In The Storm was so cold feeling, and I was like, “I want the next record to feel really, really warm.” With Tigers Blood, I was like, “Well, I still want it to feel warm.” I just didn’t have any clarity about that. I had my head down, I was just letting the songs come out, and I was like, “We’ll figure it out.”

We were just trying things, and we were like, “Well, maybe we’ll program some beats?” Very quickly, when that wasn’t working, I remember Brad saying, “Katie, I think the confident choice here is to just do what we do together and not overthink it.” And that is putting a band of people we pick that feel like the right people in the room and just playing the songs. We had to get over ourselves a little bit. I give myself some grace, because there’s a natural pressure that comes after you make a record that people really love. You feel this pressure to reinvent yourself, and so we’ve resisted that with this record.

[MJ “Jake” Lenderman] musically and just in spirit brought so much. He’s young and he’s got this fun, young energy. He just breathed some new life into my whole thing with Brad. A lot of the early demo sessions, it was just the three of us. It was really good for me at this particular point in my career to be around somebody like Jake, because he reminds me so much of myself when I was his age. He just approaches it all in this really, really cool way. There’s all this hype around him and he’s so unfazed by it. He’s got his head screwed on so straight. He just cares about the music and he cares about his friends who are making the music with him, and it’s all just very cool. It really helped me realign with some values that are essential to me as well.

The thing that really struck me about Jake when I first thought about having him on the record was his voice. Obviously, everyone really knows Jake’s guitar playing. There’s a lot of conversation about him as a guitar player. And, of course, once he got in the room, I was like, “Oh, perfect. This is the guitar sound I want on the record.” But his voice was the thing that really struck me. Because his voice is this really specific thing, and so is mine. I’m like, “If we put them together, what would that be like?” It was just a curiosity.

We jammed on probably two-thirds of the songs in this one session. “Right Back To It” was one of the last ones we did, and that’s when the energy in the room shifted. All of us were like, How this is making us feel, we really want to try and anchor the entire album around that. It was a transitional moment in the making of the record.

I think a lot about longevity. Kevin and I talk about longevity and sustainability within our larger careers a lot, especially as we age. We see people like Lucinda [Williams] or other people we really look up to still touring in their 60s, 70s, 80s even, and we’re like, “What a blessing.” Maybe that will be us. Or maybe it won’t. It’s fun to predict.